Welcome

You’ve stumbled on my blog, welcome!

This is a little introduction on what I’m going to ramble on about here, who I am and why I feel it’s important to start to curate a little part of the internet. This is my first blog, well, a proper blog and a clean slate. However, it’s good to add a little background before delving into some creative content.

I trained as an illustrator at Westminster University in London and straight out of the gate curated a travelling exhibition, made it into the Association of Illustrators Best of British Illustration exhibition and published annual and landed an artist residency in Notting Hill. However, I burned out pretty quick - I grew tired of creating and my well of ideas dried up. I found I couldn’t create the quality of work I did when I sat in a studio of like-minded creatives for 8 hours a day. I was a little lost.

Luckily I landed a job at an art shop in London and again was surrounded by creative people on a regular basis. Although I found a great group of people I had to adapt the way I produce art - I didn’t have hours of the week to spare just letting my thoughts run as they would in the studio at the university. With a full-time job I also needed to focus on that career to make sure I could progress to remain engaged with where I spend the majority of the time.

My current status, still working at the art shop - although office based now. With a long commute where I can start to let my mind wander a bit more and at a flat shared with a similarly creative boyfriend where I’ve been able to make a space so there is always the opportunity day or night to pick up a pen.

I’m going to go through how to try to stay creative, that includes the ups and downs. I realise that on Instagram or Facebook you can see fully curated feeds of brilliant doodles and fully coloured works of art but it’s important to see that sometimes there are dry days, tough days and roller coaster weeks.

If anything, I hope this little corner gives you the confidence to start making marks - not just art. This might help show the cracks behind the mask of a professional which will make the whole creative endeavour feel a lot more accessible.

I may be a little sporadic but that is all a part of the journey so bear with me. Full disclosure, I am not a professional - I’ll be balancing this with a full-time job, trying to live a full life and taking care of my mental health. However, like a lot of creatives, there is always the ambition to really run with it some days and this will be part of that adventure.